Beef

Today’s post comes from Aya who blogs at AyaKhalil.com. She’s a freelance journalist and mom of two. This recipe for macaroni bechamel may not sound Egyptian but I assure you it is! One of the first Egyptian meals I tasted included this dish and every Arab potluck that has Egyptians present will have a few dishes of macaroni bechamel. I mean what’s not to love? Enjoy!

Salam! This dish is called macaroni béchamel. My mom taught me this Egyptian dish and it’s one of our family’s favorite dishes. It’s nice because it includes protein, starch and dairy. You can also make a vegetarian version and not add the ground beef or substitute it with ground turkey. It’s a little time consuming because you have to keep an eye on the béchamel sauce as you’re mixing it so it doesn’t burn. But it’s a filling, delicious dish – make a salad with it and you’re good to go.

Ingredients

1 box penne or Angel hair pasta

2 lbs ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (optional)

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 egg

About 5 cups cold milk

6 tablespoons butter

6 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)

salt

black pepper

Italian bread crumbs

5 tablespoons of butter

Directions

Boil the pasta and drain- set aside

Saute the onion in a little oil over med high heat until soft. Add garlic and saute another two minutes.

Cook the ground beef on med-high in a pot until it’s no longer red. Add the onion mixture and add the parsley. Set aside.

How to make the béchamel sauce

In a large saucepan over med-high heat melt the butter. Once melted, whisk in the flour until smooth. Keep whisking for 2 minute.

Now whisk in the milk very slowly until all the milk has been added. Keep whisking making sure there are no lumps in it. You can add more or less milk depending on how thick you want it. Add the salt and black pepper to your taste.

Whisk pretty continuously until the milk is almost boiling. Add nutmeg. The sauce should now be fairly thick.

Quickly whisk in the beaten eggs. Remove from heat.

Mix the past, tomato sauce and the ground beef together in a baking dish

Pour the sauce over it.

Add the Italian Breadcrumbs on top the béchamel.

Add slices of butter on the top.

Bake in the oven at 375 degrees for about 30-45 minutes. Then broil for 5-10 minutes (until it’s brown)

This post wraps up my food from around the Islamic World series to celebrate Ramadan (albeit a little late!) I hope you’ve enjoyed traveling through the world and have gotten the chance to make some of these amazing dishes! A big thank you to everyone that contributed!

It’s been a long time since I’ve shared a Moroccan meal recipe and I’m sure you’ll love this one. In Morocco we don’t use a slow cooker often, though lately I’ve been adamant that we need one. With lots of work taking both of us out of the house I miss being able to put dinner in and have it warm and ready when I get home. After 8-10 hours out of the house walking the last thing I want to do at 9pm is figure out something to make.

I’ve had the idea to turn this recipe into a crockpot friendly freezer meal but being without one for a year and a half now meant I had no way to test it out. So I asked my step sister if she would be my tester. She’s a new mom who works from home and both she and her husband love international foods. Perfect guinea pigs!

The easiest way to make this is to gather all of your ingredients ahead of time, then just dump them into the crockpot! I’ve also adapted this so that you can mix everything together in a Ziploc bag and freeze it. When you want to have it for dinner all you’ll need to do is thaw overnight in the fridge and pop into your slow cooker in the morning. Take advantage of low cost frozen beans to shave time off of preparing and still have the same great taste.

Slow Cooker Moroccan Beef and Green Bean Tajine

Yield: 4 servings

A Moroccan tajine adapted for your slow cooker. No need to keep watch while it cooks!

Instructions

In the bottom of a slow cooker add olive oil, onions, and garlic and turn heat on, leave for 10-15 minutes. Add meat and remaining ingredients (except for beans). Cook on low heat for 6-7 hours. 20 minutes before serving mix and add green beans to the slow cooker. Meat should be tender and falling off the bone, beans should also be tender.

Notes

**To prepare ahead of time for the freezer, mix the meat, spices, onions, garlic, tomato and olive oil in a large bowl so that everything combines evenly. Then add to a freezer safe storage bag and freeze. Beans should be kept separate. **

I’ve been seeing a lot of fall pictures from my friends on Facebook. The changing leaves. Kids Halloween costumes. Pumpkin spice everything. I sniffle a little and feel a bit sad that I don’t think I’ll see much of fall this year. The olive trees don’t change colors, no trick or treating to prepare for, and pumpkin spice is only a memory.

When I talked to my mom yesterday I heard my niece say “grandma, I need my jacket.” Pfff jackets? My kids aren’t even in long sleeve t-shirts yet! I do keep reminding myself that when the snow starts falling back home, and I’m still in flip flops I’ll be the one smiling.

Fall is the perfect season for warm soups, stews, and casseroles. Warm and comforting with minimal clean-up required. Most days, the last thing I want is something hot to eat but a good tajine is the perfect fit for any day. It’s quince season here and I’ll admit the first time I saw these for sale at the market I thought they were really deformed apples. Quince, like figs, are not something that often appear in the Midwest.

See just some ugly apples right? No, this is a quince. Don’t eat them raw – ask me how I know. Basically these make me think of a sweet potato and apple if they got married and had a baby. But they really have to be cooked to get the flavor to come out. If you’ve never tackled cleaning one, here’s how. I first cut around the edges, the same way I do with a mango. There is a core and seeds in the center.

If you have a really sharp knife you can probably cut right down the middle, but my good knives haven’t arrived yet so I’m working with sub par knives right now. Next peel the skin off using a paring knife or a vegetable peeler. The skin comes off just like the peel of an apple. I like to keep the quince pieces a little bit bigger but you can cut them into whatever size you want. I make this in a tajine pot, but you could also make it in a large, dutch oven or pressure cooker (just cook the meat and quince separate).

One Pot Beef and Quince Tajine

Ingredients

2 lbs beef (bone-in pieces if possible)

1 large onion diced

3 cloves of garlic grated

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 Tbsp butter

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp red pepper (you can add more for a spicier dish)

1 1/2 tsp cumin

pinch of saffron threads crumbled

2 quinces, cut, peeled, and cored

2 Tbsp honey

1 cup of water

1/2 cinnamon stick (optional)

Instructions

This recipe is to be made in a tajine.

In the bottom of a tajine add 2 Tbsp vegetable oil and 1 Tbsp butter. Heat on low heat.

Add diced onion and grated garlic.

In a large bowl mix cinnamon, salt, red pepper, cumin, and crushed saffron threads. Mix with 1 cup of water.

Coat pieces of beef in the spice mixture.

Place beef in the bottom of the tajine. Reserve the marinade.

Cut, core and peel quince then add to the top of the beef.

Pour the remaining marinade mixture over the quince and beef. Add the optional cinnamon stick to the liquid

Cover the tajine and cook for 45 minutes - 1 hour, occasionally checking the water to make sure there's enough liquid in the dish.

When the meat is cooked through and starting to fall apart. Drizzle the top of the quinces with honey. You may need to add more depending on how sweet your quinces are.

There should be liquid remaining in the tajine.

Eat using crusty bread to break apart the pieces and soak up the juices.

Even though today is the first day of fall, the weather barely feels like it. Our daily temperatures are still topping 90F, while evenings cool down to the mid-60’s. I am seeing so many friends posting pictures of the leaves changing colors, apple orchards, jeans and sweaters, and all of the other signs of fall. I don’t know when fall will really arrive here, but I’m still going to embrace the season!

I’m all about simple meals and especially those that only require me to get one pan dirty. I’m lazy, I’m not ashamed but who wants to wash up loads of dishes (by hand mind you) after eating a filling meal? Not me! So go on and dig in to this dish!

The nights have cooled down and that’s prompted me to start making warm foods for dinner time. This risotto is the first “comfort food” item I made. I wanted to make something creamy, that sticks to your ribs and fills you up. This did it. I worried my boys would turn up their noses at the carrots but their reaction was completely the opposite.

One thing about eating in Morocco is that hands are used way more than silverware. Instead of eating this with a spoon, my boys grabbed bread and started scooping it up. Yes, double the starch! I’ll admit it, once I ate some, I used bread to soak up the sauce that was left. This dish is so easy, and you can prepare it in under 30 minutes. If you’ve got leftovers (just in case – you probably won’t!) mix in an egg and some bread crumbs. Form the rice into balls and coat with bread crumbs then fry. You’ll have a tasty appetizer for the next day.

As soon as the snow melts here, and sometimes when it’s still flying, our grill is on overdrive. Most everyone loves grilled burgers, but I like to mix that up. This recipe combines the Moroccan flavors of kefta, spicy meat kebabs, with the American hamburger. It’s a cross-cultural masterpiece!

Moroccan Hamburgers with Harissa Mayonnaise

Yield: 4-6 burgers

Put a twist on your regular hamburger recipe and try this instead. Don't skip out on the mayonaise!

Ingredients

1 pound of ground sirloin (I use a 90/10 mix)

2 Tbsp chopped cilantro

2 tsp fresh grated ginger

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp each salt and pepper

1/2 tsp lemon zest

Instructions

In a large bowl mix together the meat and all of the other ingredients.

Take time to really mix well, so that all of the flavors are evenly distributed.

If you have time, leave the meat to marinade, covered in the refrigerator, as long as possible, and up to overnight.

When ready to grill, form into patties of the size and thickness you desire.

Slow cookers are a great tool to have in the kitchen especially during the hot summer months. Using one makes it possible to have warm food without having a hot kitchen. It is a one pot wonder! For this recipe I used my trusty slow cooker along with some Lindsay Manzanilla Olives. These olives are grown in Spain and California and are often stuffed with pimentos. They are firm and have a slightly tart taste. At only 25 calories for 5 olives I think they dispel the notion of olives as a calorie laden food!

If you’ve got a potluck or a summer get together coming your way, this recipe comes highly recommended from the greatest of taste testers – my mom.

Shredded Beef with Olives

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 8 hours

Total Time: 8 hours15 minutes

A simple crockpot meal of shredded beef with olives to punch up the flavor.

Ingredients

2-3 lb arm roast of beef (I use organic free-range)

1 cup of Italian dressing

at least 1 cup of Lindsay Manzanilla Olives - use as many as you would like!

Instructions

Simply throw everything into your slow cooker and turn on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for about 5 hours.

When the meat is falling apart remove from slow cooker and shred the meat, removing any excess fat.

If there is a lot of liquid left in the slow cooker you can pour it into a stovetop fan and boil to reduce down, using the reduction as a sauce or discard it.

Need more crockpot beef recipe suggestions?

Primary Sidebar

Hello!

Amanda is a freelance writer, entrepreneur, speaker, and hungry world traveler behind this site that has been helping curious, food-loving travelers plan experiences around Morocco and the world for the past 15 years.